In the United States, every 30 minutes someone is killed in an alcohol related traffic accident.

Social circumstances are important in drug abuse. Peer pressure, emotional distress and low self-esteem can all lead individuals to abuse drugs. Ease of access to drugs is another influence.

The average addict has to steal an average of $1,000.00 worth of property and goods to raise the $200.00.

Current estimates indicate that nearly 600,000 people need treatment for heroin addiction.

Drug
Addiction

What Is A Drug?
In medical terms, a drug is any substance that when taken into a living organism
may modify one or more of its functions. Drugs can provide temporary relief
from unhealthy symptoms and/or permanently supply the body with a necessary
substance that the body can no longer produce. Some drugs produce unwanted side
affects, and may lead to an unhealthy addiction that has both physiological
and behavioral roots.

Why People Use Drugs
The first thing you must understand about drug addiction is that alcohol and
addictive drugs are essentially painkillers. They chemically kill physical or
emotional pain and alter the minds perception of reality. They make people
"numb."

For drugs to be attractive to a person, there must first be some underlying
unhappiness, sense of hopelessness, or physical pain.

Drug Addiction Follows A Cycle Like This:
The life cycle of addiction begins with a problem, discomfort, or some form
of emotional or physical pain a person is experiencing. They find this very
difficult to deal with.

We start off with an individual who, like most people in our society, is inherently
good. This person encounters a problem or discomfort that they do not know how
to resolve or can't confront. This could include problems such as difficulty
fitting in as a child or teenager, anxiety due to peer pressure
or work expectations, identity problems, or divorce as an adult. It can also
include physical discomfort, such as an injury or chronic pain. The person experiencing
the discomfort has a real problem. He feels his present situation is un-endurable,
yet sees no good solution to the problem.

Everyone has experienced this in life to a greater or lesser
degree. The difference between an addict and the non-addict
is that the addict chooses drugs or alcohol as a solution to
the unwanted problem or discomfort.

The
Addiction Progresses
Analogous to an adolescent child in his first love affair, the
use of drugs or alcohol becomes obsessive. The addicted person
is trapped. Whatever problem he was initially trying to solve
by using drugs or alcohol fades from memory. At this point,
all he can think about is getting and using drugs. He loses
the ability to control his usage and disregards the horrible
consequences of his actions.

Alcohol
And Drug Tolerance
In addition to the mental stress created by his unethical behavior,
the addicts body has also adapted to the presence of the
drugs. He will experience an overwhelming obsession with getting
and using his drugs, and will do anything to avoid the pain
of withdrawing from them. This is when the newly-created addict
begins to experience drug cravings.
He now seeks drugs both for the reward of the pleasure they give
him, and also to avoid the mental and physical horrors of withdrawal. Ironically,
the addicts ability to get high from the alcohol or drug gradually
decreases as his body adapts to the presence of foreign chemicals. He must take
more and more, not just to get an effect, but often just to function at all.
At this point, the addict is stuck in a vicious and dwindling spiral. The drugs
he abuses have changed him both physically and mentally. He has crossed an invisible
and intangible line. He is now a drug addict.